Trending News: A Spy Used The Plot Of 'The Rock' To Justify Iraq Invasion

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A spy who claimed Iraq had chemical weapons may have made it all up after watching the Nicolas Cage movie “The Rock.” The stunt is detailed in a new report on Britain's role in the Iraq war.

Long Story

A British spy may have lifted a scene from the action flick The Rock when he created a phony description of chemical weapons in Iraq, according to a new report.

The secret agent told intelligence honchos that terrorists carried mind-melting toxic gasses in “linked hollow glass spheres" in 2002, the Chilcot report revealed Wednesday. But officials learned he was lying because his account sounded — suspiciously — like one featured in the awesomely hokey 90s movie, according to the report.

In real life, that’s rarely how chemical weapons are carried, according to the UK Mirror, which posted an excerpt of the 6,200 page report.

“Glass containers were not typically used in chemical munitions; a popular movie [The Rock] has inaccurately depicted nerve agents being carried in glass beads or spheres,” it states.

“The questions about the use of glass containers for chemical agents and the similarity of the description to those portrayed in The Rock had been recognized by Secret Intelligence Service."

The movie The Rock centers on a biochemist and an ex-con tasked with thwarting an evil group of former Marines on Alcatraz island. It stars Sean Connery, Ed Harris and Nicolas Cage, whose character transports glowing green balls of toxic chemicals in metal cylinders.

The spy's fake report, which may have been inspired by the 1996 blockbuster, made it into the hands of powerful people. Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw reviewed it in September 2002, according to the UK Guardian.

But it wasn’t long before the spy’s lie blew up in his face. In December 2002, intelligence officials discovered he had “made up all or part of the account of his dealings,” the report states. He wasn’t a reliable source, officials declared.

The Chilcot report — a review of Britain's role in the Iraq war — also offers a damning critique of Blair. It claims he pushed Britain into the Iraq war without a plan but clears him of deceiving the public on purpose. And it notes Saddam Hussein was not an imminent threat to the west at the time, according to the Mirror.

It was unclear what motivated the spy, whose name was withheld, to make up the movie-worthy chemical weapons story.

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The tagline of the The Rock is, “Alcatraz. Only one man has ever broken out. Now five million lives depend on two men breaking in." The movie’s gross earnings were $134 million.